The Only Way
by AppleCiderr
Summary: After escaping the clutches of Hydra, a super-powered Tony Stark finds out that Ross has convinced the world that he is a criminal, making him a fugitive along with the rest of Team-Cap. With Hydra hunting for him and Ross ready to arrest him the second he shows his face, Tony decides that the best thing he can do is stay away. Unfortunately, life isn't one to be patient.
1. Chapter 1

The train sped down the tracks, cutting through the blizzard without a care for the amount of snow on the tracks ahead of it. All its closed and locked cargo hung on tightly as the wind whistled past them, as determined as the train was to reach their destination. All except for one.

In the middle of the long line of train cars, one of the boxcars was wide open. If one were to examine closer, they would see a scrawny, shivering figure standing in the entrance, the wind making the hood of his ragged and torn sweater fight to hold onto his head.

He looked around the vast expanse of snow around him, mist billowing out of his mouth with every frantic breath he took. He squinted his mismatched eyes to stare through the snow, noticing something that looked like buildings in the distance.

Shifting anxiously on his feet, he started to edge closer to the very edge of the doorway. "That's your best bet, who knows when this train will stop…" He whispered to himself. "Come on Tony… You can do this."

He crouched a bit, growling in frustration. "Come on, Tony! You flew a nuke through a wormhole! You can jump out of a train! One, two…"

Not waiting for three, Tony threw himself out side of the moving train. When he looked down, he realized that the ground was a lot farther down than he thought. With a panicked cry, he held his arms out in front of him.

Suddenly, a blue glow started to surround him. His descent slowed and then completely stopped, leaving him floating in midair with a blue glow surrounding him. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and looked around, sighing in relief.

"Looks like I'm figuring this thing out!" He whispered to himself happily. Then, he moved his arms back to his side, lowering his arms and closing his eyes, trying to float back down to the ground.

Unfortunately, the glow suddenly vanished away. He crashed back down onto the ground, tumbling down the rest of the snow covered hill. He slid to a stop at the end of the hill, staring up at the sky with an annoyed expression.

With a sigh, Tony rolled over and stood up, wrapping his arms around his shivering form, and wading through the heavy snow towards the town in the distance. Despite the pain of the cold biting at the skin, and the needle-like feeling of the snow hitting his skin, he forced himself to keep going.

_If I stop, Hydra will find me. I need to call someone, Rhodey… Or Pepper… Or anyone! I need to get help!_ He thought, stumbling his way through the snow.

It felt like it took an eternity for Tony to make it to the town. It was small, the buildings were all old and made of wooden logs, looking as though they would fall down with the slightest push, and yet they were somehow still standing strong.

Tony sighed in relief, turning to look around the small town for any sign of a place to stay. Near the middle of the town, there seemed to be more business related buildings.

When he turned to look at once, he caught sight of his reflection in a window and froze in shock.

He looked… strangely younger, early twenties at the oldest. He knew why, but he didn't dare think about it, it brought up too many bad memories. Unfortunately for him, so did something much more obvious.

The left side of his face had skin that was a dark blue color, which slowly faded a lighter color as it got closer to the middle of his face, along with cracks all along his skin. His left eye had black sclera, with a glowing blue iris and no pupil.

He frowned and lowered his eyes, staring down at his hands. They were also stained a dark blue color, and Tony didn't even have to pull up his sleeves to know that it traveled above his elbows on both arms.

That was when he realized that he wasn't the only one who could see his appearance. Looking back up, he saw the reflections of several other people who were brave enough to walk through the snow staring at his face with disgust.

Feeling extremely self conscious about his appearance, Tony pulled his hood over his head, placing his sweater covered hand over the left side of his face.

To his relief, he finally caught sight of a hanging sign that read _Baikal Inn._

_I don't have any money, but maybe they'll let me stay in there until someone comes to save me. It would be nice to be warm for a while. _He thought hopefully, heading over to the inn and going inside, thankful for the warm air that hit him the instant he was inside. He quickly pulled his hood further over his face, closing his mutated eye for good measure.

The inn was small, and only had about six tables in the whole place, and a single aisle that led to the door and to the what he guessed was the kitchen.

There were about five other people sitting around the place, and most of them were staring at a small television sitting on a small shelf that was constantly flickering and going static as it struggled to display the show.

One of the gruff looking men swore angrily, hitting the side of the television several times in a vain attempt to stop the flickering. "Damn thing never works. I can barely tell what's going on." He groused.

Another one of the men scoffed and rolled their eyes at the complaint. "Why don't you just go home and listen to the radio then, Lund?" He suggested teasingly.

Lund narrowed his eyes towards the other man. "It's easier to follow when there's pictures," He grunted, his face quickly becoming downcast. "Besides, my wife won't want to see me right now, not after I lost that new job…"

The man who had been teasing Lund became saddened as well, turning his eyes back down to the half full glass mug below him, and let out an exhausted sigh. The air in the room surrounding the group of men turned tense, and thick.

"Excuse me?" A voice right next to Tony's ear suddenly said in Russian, making the genius jolt in surprise and whip around to face the voice.

A tall middle aged woman with short brown hair and sharp black eyes stared down at Tony, suspicion obvious in her expression. She held a platter of drinks in one hand, while her other hand was placed on her hip. When she saw the state of his face, her expression blanked for a moment, and then quickly hardered once more.

When he didn't respond right away, she firmly asked,"Are you here for something? Or are you just here to stand around and take up space?"

It took Tony a few more seconds to calm his beating heart, watching as the men by the flickering television turned to glance at him curiously and with the same suspicion as the people outside had.

"I-I… I just need to use the phone," He managed to force out of his shivering body, almost forgetting to speak in Russian_. If I can call someone, anyone, I can get home..._

The woman sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid you're out of luck, kid," She said,"My phone broke months ago, haven't been able to afford to get it fixed."

"I can fix it for you!" He interrupted quickly, and motioned towards the television. "I can fix that too."

One of the men at the table glared at Tony suspiciously. "What are you, some kind of mechanic?" He questioned.

Tony gave a weak smile. "Something like that," He replied vaguely.

The middle aged woman frowned at his response, and suspiciously asked,"What are you trying to get in return? Money? Food?"

"I don't need any of that," Tony answered firmly,"All I want is to use the phone, that's it. _Please_."

She stared down at him for several long, painful seconds before her expression softened the slightest bit. If he hadn't been teammates with an assassin for so long, he almost would have missed it.

With a sigh, she set her platter down. "Alright, but start with the television," She ordered,"I want you in my line of sight for now, stranger."

Tony nodded in relief, quickly hurrying over to the tv and unplugging it from the wall, carefully turning it so he could see the back panel. The woman handed him a set of tools, and stood back to watch.

One of the men glared at Tony still, and turned to the woman. "Louise, how can you trust this stranger?" He questioned,"We don't even know who he is."

"Yeah, look at him! I bet he's never even seen a television as old as this. How do we know he can fix it?" Another man questioned.

The woman, Louise, rolled her eyes at them. "Well I don't see any of you jumping to fix it now, do I?" She pointed out.

The men went quiet instantly, and Tony couldn't stop the small snort of amusement that came out of his throat. The men shot their glares back towards him, but this time they didn't dare say anything.

It only took Tony less than a few minutes to find the problem in the wires and fix it. _It may be an old television, but it's still much less complicated than an Iron Man suit. _He turned the television back around, plugged it back into the wall, and grinned proudly as it displayed a perfect image once more.

"Well would you look at that!" Lund said excitedly,"He really did it! I'd say it looks even better than before!"

The men, still seeming to be suspicious of an outsider, grudgingly offered their thanks and turned back towards the television without another word.

Louise chuckled in amusement. "Don't mind them, their pride gets in the way," She teased,"Let's see about that phone now, okay?"

She stood up and walked towards the kitchen, and Tony made to follow, until he saw a familiar face on the screen of the small box he had just fixed. He backtracked, leaning against the table to stare at the news report.

_It's… Me?_ Or at least, it was what he used to look like before Hydra took him from that damned Siberia base._ But why is my picture there? Why am I grouped with Rogers and his damned group?_ He frowned, listening as the reporter spoke.

"The search continues for the group of Avengers that over the past year became fugitives. After refusing to sign the Accords, Captain America- also known as Steve Rogers -aided the Winter Soldier in his escape after the bombing of the Vienna Conference he was responsible for," The reporter explained, showing footage and the photo that supposedly incriminated Barnes.

The reporter continued,"Soon after their disappearance, Tony Stark apparently hacked into the RAFT's security system and helped Captain America break out the fugitives known as Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff. Although he has not been seen since, U.S. Secretary Ross has confirmed that they are likely traveling together."

The report cut to an interview, showing Thaddeus Ross standing at a podium, as he loudly declared,"These criminals must be brought to justice, and the rest of the Avengers must be put under careful watch. We cannot afford to have our citizens hurt by these dangerous and unhinged fugitives." The man gave a sad sigh, shaking his head. "The Accords were supposed to help the Avengers… And yet it seems that that was all it took to reveal their true nature..."

The clip ended, and the reporter returned to the front of the screen. "Anyone who has seen these fugitives is urged to call their local authorities and report their location to authorities, for the safety of yourself and others," She finished,"And now onto our next story…"

Lund stared at the screen impassively. "Y'know, I don't think that they are criminals," He firmly declared.

"What? Why?" One of the other men asked,"You saw all the footage, that secretary guy even showed the footage from the iron man suit they recovered that showed Tony Stark made a truce with them."

Before Lund could reply, all of their glasses suddenly shattered. Glass and beer spilt all over them, making them all cry out in surprise. They stood up and brushed the glass away quickly.

"What the hell?!" The tallest of the group said,"I didn't break it this time! I swear to god I wasn't even holding it!"

Tony heard none of this, his mind had gone into a whirl. He was standing at the edge of the table, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, a strange blue glow surrounding them. His whole body shook, and breathing suddenly became extremely difficult. _I didn't do that, I didn't join them. I'm not a criminal, I'm not. I never was… I never was! _

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder, someone was leading him away, but Tony couldn't seem to focus on them. All he could see was Captain America slamming his shield into his chest over and over again… And then the world around him faded away.

* * *

The next time awareness returned to him, he was sitting on a stool in the corner of a kitchen. He frowned in confusion, looking around the area to try and figure out exactly where he was.

Before he could move, the curtain covering a doorway was moved open, and he saw the woman from the Inn walk in. She noticed his movement and smiled, setting her platter of dirty dishes down. She grabbed the kettle on the stove and picked up a cup, pouring the steaming water into it.

Walking over to Tony, she gently pressed the warm cup into his hands. "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better,``she promised.

Tony stared down at the cup, tiredly noticing the tea bag inside of it. "Oh… Thank you…" He whispered, sipping on the tea quietly. It warmed up his shivering body, and helped melt away some of the stress still built up in his muscles.

A few minutes passed before Louise softly asked,"How are you feeling?"

"I feel better, thank you," He told her, quickly drinking down the rest of the tea in order to keep that warm feeling in his cold bones.

After he emptied the cup, he looked up at Louise again. "What happened to me?" He tiredly asked, the last thing he remembered was watching the news report.

"You had a panic attack, so I moved you back here to calm down," Louise replied as she placed plates in the sink. "I don't think you wanted Lund and the others to see what was happening to your hands and your eye."

The genius frowned, and lifted up his dark blue hands. "My… What happened to-" He gasped, remembering the shattering of the glass mugs. _My powers did that… I wasn't controlling them, I let my emotions get the better of me again, damn it!_

He shook away those thoughts, and forced himself to focus on what was more important. It was that Louise had seen what he had done. He took a deep breath, looking back up to the woman. "Y-you saw my powers…" He said.

"I did," She confirmed, her voice void of any emotions.

Tony frowned at that, as he still couldn't tell what her intentions were. "What are you going to do?" He questioned, prepared to get up and run if he had to.

Louise rolled her eyes, picked up the toolbox, and held it out to him. "Well, I'm going to give you these tools and tell you that I want you to fix the phone like you promised you would. Considering how easily you repaired the television, this shouldn't take long."

""Oh… Oh right," Tony recalled, setting the tea cup down on the counter and taking the tool box over to the phone.

He set aside thoughts about his precarious situation, and followed Louise over to the phone. It was one of the old corded phones that hung on the wall, but looked like it had been half-ripped out of the way.

The man gasped. "Jeez that phone is old!" He exclaimed,"I feel like I just got teleported to the stone age-" Someone hit him on the top of the head. "Ow!"

Spinning around, he found Louise standing behind him with a rolled up newspaper. "Weren't you ever taught to respect your elders? Be nice, that phone is older than you, kid."

It's really not. Tony thought to himself, but he bit back the retort and quickly fixed the phone, setting it back on the wall. "There we go," He said,"All fixed."

Louise moved next to him, taking the phone and dialing a random number, listening as it actually rings. "Oh, you really fixed it!" She happily said, a wide smile on her face as she held out the phone to him. "Here, you can make that call you needed to now."

At the reminder of what he had come to the inn to do in the first place, Tony felt his blood run cold, images of Ross on the news report and Tony's own face plastered with the word fugitive over it ran through his mind, and he released another sad sigh.

_Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, and Peter, they'll be in danger. Ross won't listen, he's probably waiting for a chance to shove them into the Raft. If I, a fugitive, go back, it will give him enough reason to hurt them._ Tony shuddered in fear and rage at the thought. _And Hydra… They'll chase me all the way there, everyone will be in danger if I go home…_

After several tense moments, he shook his head. "I-I can't…" He whispered.

"Hm? Why not?" Louise questioned.

He weakly raised his dark blue hands, staring down at the slight glow that could be seen. "I.. I… The news report… It made me realize that if I reach out to the people I was going to, I'll put them in danger…" He whispered.

Tony wrapped his arms around himself and lowered his eyes to the ground as he continued,"Even if it means I have nowhere to go, I'll protect them. I'll stay here, because then they'll be safe."

A pregnant pause fell over them, as Louise absorbed what he had declared, and Tony accepted the meaning of his own decision. Eventually, the woman reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I can offer you room and board if you want. But, you'll have to work," The woman offered.

Tony looked up at her, the surprise evident in his eyes. "What?" He questioned,"W-work?"

Louise chuckled. "Yeah, at the inn. The housework, the dishes. It'd be nice to have an extra hand, especially someone who is good at things related to electronics." She explained.

"B-but I broke your dishes with my powers…" He weakly argued,"I'm dangerous…"

The woman arched an eyebrow. "Did you _purposefully_ mean to break them?" She interrogated.

With wide eyes, Tony shook his head. "No I didn't!" He replied,"I-I just don't know how to control them and-"

"Then it was an accident.,``she interrupted, and gave him a playful grin. "Between you and me, I always gave Lund and his friends the glasses I don't care about since they broke one of my nice glasses a few months ago."

"Oh, I see…" Tony whispered.

Louise nodded firmly. "I'm sure, with time, you'll be able to get better control over them. Like everything, you just need to practice," She pointed out.

His words made him remember his time trying to build his iron man suit for the first time after escaping from Afghanistan. _She's right, I can do this. I can stay here, and learn to control these powers. _He smirked as an amusing thought came to him. _That would be the best middle finger to Hydra too, wouldn't it?_

Tony looked back at the woman, and gave her a nod of agreement. "Okay, I'll take you up on your offer." He declared.

Louise gave a happy smile. "I'm glad," She said, reaching behind her and then shoving a mop into Tony's hands. "Since I just closed up shop, you can start right away!"

"What? Right now?" Tony exclaimed in surprise. "But I just got hired? Is there no training period at all?"

Louise smirked at him, and handed over a metal bucket filled to the brim with soapy water. "If you can fix my television and phone, you can mop the floor," She said, patting his back. "Go ahead and get started!"

She turned and walked away, while Tony rolled up his sleeves revealing that the dark blue skin went up past his elbows before it started to fade into cracks, and started his work. He dragged the heavy bucket and its accompanying mop into the next room, and started to clean the floor.

While he worked, he tried to push away the thoughts of what Steve Rogers had condemned him to, what Hydra had done to him, the fact that Ross had turned him into a criminal, and his friends.

_ They will be safer without me there, Hydra will focus on me, Ross will focus on the 'fugitives' and not them. Things will be better if I'm not there… Yeah…_

_They don't need me._


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of panting and the feeling of warm breath hitting his face is what roused Tony out of his dreamless sleep. He groaned a bit, forcing his heavy eyelids to lift up and bring him further into awareness.

"Five more minutes, Pep…" He grumbled, grabbing the thin blanket and pulling it further over his scrawny body.

Instead of hearing Pepper's gentle, yet irritated voice pestering him to get out of bed, he was jolted out of his stupor by a deep, gruff bark.

His eyes quickly snapped open, the genius found himself face to face with a large, fluffy dog. As soon as the animal realized he was awake, it let out one more bark and then dragged its long, slobbery tongue across Tony's face.

"Ugh! Gross!" Tony quickly sat up, wiping his face clean of the dog drool. He turned to the fluffy monstrosity, narrowing his mismatched eyes at it. "What are you, some kind of slobbery alarm clock?"

"You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you up." Tony looked up, and found Louise leaning standing in the doorway of the small room. She motioned her head to the dog. "But, Boris volunteered to do it for me."

The Saint Bernard wagged his tail at the sound of his name and rested his head on the bed, looking up at Tony with hopeful eyes.

Unable to resist, Tony sighed and scratched the large dog behind his ear, the fur soft and warm in between his fingers. Boris happily licked at Tony's arm while he pet him, which made the genius tiredly grumble about dog slobber.

Louise tossed a pile of clothes onto the edge of the bed. "Get dressed, kid. It's your first day working here, you need to get the hang of a few things before we open." She then left the room, and called over her shoulder. "Meet me downstairs once you're ready!"

Tony half-heartedly pushed Boris aside and slid off the lumpy bed, picking up the clothes and giving them a once-over. A red long sleeve shirt, tan pants, and some boots. He took the new clothes without question, thankful to take off the outfit he'd been wandering in since escaping from the hydra base.

"I wonder if I could burn them…" He muttered to himself as he went to the restroom in the hallway, and splashed water on himself to wake up. Then he lifted his head, caught a glimpse of his own reflection, and froze at the sight.

His hand went up and tapped the side of his face that was stained dark blue, with his unnaturally colored eye. He looked down at his hands, the same dark blue almost all the way up his arms. A constant reminder of the time he spent as Hydra's test subject, and it was _very _noticeable.

"If they come looking for me, they'll recognize me right away…" Tony whispered, his heart starting to constrict with panic once again.

The genius quickly left the bathroom, speeding downstairs to where Louise was setting up the tables. "Hey, do you have any makeup?" He asked as fast as he could.

"Makeup?" The woman scrunched up her nose in confusion, but the emotion vanished as she laid eyes on Tony's face. "Oh… Oh, I see. To cover… er… that?" She uncomfortably motioned to his face.

At Tony's fervent nod, her confused look changed to one of concern. "I'm afraid I don't have any makeup, and even if I did I don't think it would be enough to cover all of it." She scratched the side of her cheek thoughtfully, and after a few seconds snapped her fingers. "Wait, I have an idea."

Louise turned and hurried into the back area, Tony heard the sound of items hitting the floor, and then she returned holding a roll of white bandages. "It's still noticeable, but it's less noticeable than your face, no offense." The innkeeper said.

"None taken," Tony replied, he's heard far worse.

"Okay, hold still." Louise moved forward, wrapping the white bandages around his arms, using slimmer stripes up his hands, and stopping just before the tips of his fingers. Then, she brought the bandages up to his face, wrapping them around the dark blue side to hide it.

They stayed mostly silent during the process, with only the occasional question about if the wrapping was too tight or too loose. When Louise finished and pulled away, Tony's hand went up to his now half-covered face, trying to get used to having his eye covered.

Louise left him for a moment to return the bandages to the place she had gotten them from. Then, "You know, you never gave me a name."

Tony's hand froze at the edge of the wrappings, realizing for the first time that he really hadn't. The day before had been such a blur of running and panic that he never even thought to tell Louise a name.

It had to be a fake name, it didn't matter how trustworthy Louise was. All it would take for Hydra to find him was one suspicious person. If he used his real name, that would make it even easier for them.

But even after a long , Tony's mind still felt like it had been squeezed through a wringer. He tried to think of a name, but all he managed to do cringe and mutter. "I- I don't have one…"

Louise, to Tony's surprise, didn't seem at all surprised or annoyed by his words… In fact she was wearing a look of understanding. "Not the first time that's happened around here. Plenty of people here have come from less than desirable pasts."

"Well you still need a name, so I'll give you one." She brought up her hand and pointed at him. "From now on, I'll call you Ludis."

_Ludis… _Tony let the name make its way into his mind, and he found that he thought it worked very well. He couldn't be picky anyways, any name was better than using his actual name.

He let himself smile the slightest bit, and nodded towards his new boss. "I like it. Thank you, Louise."

The innkeeper smiled, and then gently held his shoulder to guide him towards the kitchen. "No problem, kid. Now follow me, the inn opens in an hour and you have a lot to learn!"

* * *

Tony learned the ropes of the inn as if he had always worked there. He was a genius, it wasn't that hard. It also helped that his time as an Avenger and a captive of Hydra helped him get even better at thinking quickly and remaining aware of his surroundings.

The only thing Tony had trouble with was carrying heavy things like logs or trays of food. He hadn't realized just how much weight and muscle he had lost until he had finally gotten a chance to stop running and hiding.

Louise caught on to his struggle very quickly, and the amount of food on the tray got significantly smaller. When a customer complained that Tony was too slow, the woman's glare quickly silenced them.

Whenever she let him take a break, she shoved some food in his hands and ordered him to finish it before coming back to work.

Tony found the whole situation bizarre, but for very specific reasons. It had been a long, long time since someone had been kind to him. The Avengers treated him like a stranger after Ultron, his relationship with Pepper fell apart, Rogers and Barnes left him in the hands of Hydra who tortured and experimented on him, and just yesterday he discovered that Ross had the whole world thinking he was a fugitive with the Rogue Avengers.

To have a complete stranger caring so genuinely about his weight, health, and safety was hard to get used to. Louise was kind and generous, even though she had very little that she could give. Tony wasn't sure he was even capable of completely trusting people anymore, but he really appreciated all that Louise was doing for him.

The only way he could show her how thankful he felt was by working as hard as he could. Even when his arms ached and his legs shook, he still continued working and learning about the new environment he found himself in.

The days passed by, giving Tony plenty of time to learn how things worked. The inn was never crowded, but there was always a steady stream of people coming in.

"There aren't many job offers here, so people travel to the cities for work. When they aren't doing that, they're usually here," Louise had explained to him. "It only gets really busy when seasonal jobs end and everyone comes back here."

At first many customers were suspicious of Tony's presence, a new face wasn't something that appeared in the small village often. But Louise's relaxed demeanor around him and his own hard work helped make the patrons more comfortable with him.

In comparison to his life before the Accords, he didn't have much. But, he was safe, the people he cared about were safe, and Hydra didn't know where he was. If he had to stay in the village for the rest of his life to keep them safe, then that's what he would do.

* * *

In the early morning, Tony fought back a yawn as he sat crouched below the inn's bar counter. In his bandaged hands, he held a small rubber ball that Louise had given him. The innkeeper had given it to him to try and practice using his powers, but so far the genius had been unsuccessful in every attempt to use them.

He glared at the rubber ball in irritation, squeezing it in his hand tight enough that the bandages strained from the pressure.

"It has to be tied to my emotions, or at least my instinct… I used them when I jumped out of the train to stop me from getting seriously injured, and when I was panicking I broke some glasses."

A painful memory rose up in Tony's mind, making him shudder and cringe. "A-and there was that incident with Hydra…" He shook his head quickly, trying to rid himself of the panic creeping into his lungs. "No, no, don't think about that. It doesn't matter."

He started to roll the rubber ball against his palms, trying to focus on anything other than the memory. "I'm a genius, I'll figure this out. I haven't been stumped yet, not even when it came to magic. I can do this, I got this…"

Tony was jolted from his muttered ramblings at the sound of the creaking front door, and the thumping of heavy boots. He hesitated for a moment, his instincts from the weeks he'd been on the run stopping him from doing anything else.

The footsteps stopped near the bar, and he heard a gruff voice. "Louise? Are you there?"

A blush of embarrassment went through Tony as he realized that the voice belonged to Lund, the man who was at the inn when Tony first showed up. _Okay, not Hydra… Just a customer. _

He pushed himself up above the counter, making the man jump slightly in surprise at his sudden appearance. When he registered that it was Tony, he relaxed considerably and placed a hand against his chest.

"Damn, kid, give an old man a heart attack!" He grumbled, and moved to sit one one of the empty stools, scratching at his messy beard.

Tony bit back the desire to reply _'I'm not a kid' _and instead forced himself to smile. "Sorry, I was... cleaning up below the bar. What can I get you, Lund?" He asked.

Lund shrugged, his elbow resting on the edge of the bar. "Something strong..." He muttered, looking at the small amount of bottles nearby. "You got any rum?"

Scanning the glass bottles as well, Tony noticed one of them still had a good amount of rum inside of it. He held it up and let the liquid slosh a bit. "How's this?" He suggested.

Lund frantically tried to reach for the bottle, but Tony held it away from his grasp. "Are you already wasted, or did you forget that you usually pay for goods and services?" The genius snarked at the man.

The older man froze in surprise for a moment, then let out a bark of laughter. "Damn, you sound just like Louise! You haven't been here that long and she's already rubbing off on you, huh?" His scruffy face split by a grin as he reached into his heavy coat, grabbing some money, and dropping it on the counter.

"Nah, I've always been kind of an asshole," Tony replied easily, handing the bottle over to the man and taking the money to set with the rest of the day's profits.

The second that Lund got the bottle, he quickly began to chug all the rum down without stopping for air. Despite all the alcohol that he had hastily devoured in his painfully long life, Tony couldn't stop himself from being a little impressed.

"What's the occasion?" He teasingly asked. "Birthday? Lottery win?"

Lund scoffed. "I wish, but no." He let the bottle hit the wooden counter with a loud clunk. "My wife kicked me out again, told me to find a job. I'm tryin' I really am, but there aren't many offers out in the middle of nowhere."

"Louise said you worked on a ship for a while?" Tony recalled. His boss had ranted enough about her customers enough that he was privy to a lot of information.

The older man took another swig and nodded. "Yeah. Catchin' crab. Got laid off after they had to downsize. Every job since then hasn't lasted long. Feeding the kids has gotten harder and harder…"

Tony frowned, and crossed his arms. "Then why are you spending your money on booze instead of looking for a way to feed them? Or using that money for them?"

Lund huffed angrily, swirling the bottle. "Now you sound just like her…" He grumbled, and took another swig.

"She has a point then. Plus you're not just hurting them, you're hurting yourself. Trust me, alcohol won't solve your problems. It makes things worse for everyone." Tony lectured.

The man scoffed again. "How the hell would you know that? You're just a kid."

Tony once again bit back the rising desire to argue that he was not a kid, and instead replied,"My… My dad, before he died, he drank all the time, never used any of that time to actually raise me. Then he died, and I still hate him for it. You don't want that for your kids, do you?"

Lund looked horrified at the suggestion. "No, no I don't but even if I don't drink, it's useless if I don't get a job." He grumbled, becoming dejected all over again.

A new voice suddenly chimed in. "Didn't you say you were going to look in the cities again?" Louise approached the bar, eyeing the bottle in Lund's hands with disdain. "Or was that another lie for your wife?"

"It wasn't!" Lund exclaimed again, his anger only lasting for a moment before he deflated. "But our car broke down and I couldn't fix it… I got the parts but the problem seems to be something with the wires, I dunno how to fix that."

Instantly, Tony perked up. "I can fix it! Just like I fixed the phone and the television! A car is basically the same thing!"

"It is?" Lund confusedly asked.

"Eh, well when you're an amazing genius like me it is." Tony flippantly replied, which made Louise roll her eyes in amusement.

Lund hummed thoughtfully. "That sounds amazing, kid, but I don't got anything to give you in return."

Tony waved his hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. Consider it a free trial of my mechanic services, no charge necessary for a first purchase!"

The man thought again, and then looked towards Louise. "Would you be okay with me borrowing your employee for a bit tomorrow?"

Louise looked at Lund, and then at the already empty bottle. "I would feel more comfortable if you borrowed him tonight. I don't think I trust you to walk home alone, not after that much alcohol."

"Pfft. Whatever you say, Louise, but I promise you that I am perfectly capable of walking home myself."

* * *

"...That's what we do with the drunken sailor early in the mornin~!" Lund sang loudly, his voice echoing over the snowy expanse, his heavy weight making it difficult for Tony to stop him from toppling over.

_Why do I ever volunteer for things? I should just keep my mouth shut, or hide the rum next time._ I've seen college freshmen hold their liquor better. Tony thought in annoyance, glaring at Lund through the snow. "Which way is your house?"

The drunk man groaned and pointed in a random direction. "Y'cross the lake and you get there. It's easy to get there," He slurred.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, so very easy with your _very helpful_ directions…"

They walked in the freezing cold until Tony found the edge of the frozen lake. It was large, going around would take a long time but the cold water could kill them both. He leaned forward a bit, noticing the snow on top had footsteps all the way across it. "It seems safe to cross…"

"I told ya it was, remember?" Lund exclaimed, as if Tony had betrayed him in some way.

"I know you did, but I don't exactly trust your judgement right now," The genius quickly replied, before taking a gentle step onto the ice.

It felt thick and unmoving under his footsteps, so he continued onward. Slowly and carefully, the two men crept their way across the lake. As they did, he saw the lights of some small homes coming into view.

Lund must have seen them too, because he let out a pained groan. "There's _nooo_ way she's gonna let me back inside…"

"Don't give up so quickly, Eeyore. I'm sure once she hears that I'm going to fix your car the door will be wide open!" He promised.

"Maybe…" Lund grumbled under his breath.

Tony opened his mouth to reply with a quip back at the saddened man, when a loud cracking noise made him go on alert once again. He whipped around to face the sound, and felt his heart seize at the sight of a sizable crack only a few inches away from them.

As quickly as it appeared, the crack started to expand around them. "Shit!" Tony cried, and tried to pull them back to land but it was too late. The ground underneath them was gone, and ice cold water sent a shock through Tony's system.

He frantically thrashed, swimming upward as fast as he could only to hit the solid ice. _No! The hole, where's the hole?!_ He thought in a panic, his hands scratching against the ice. He tried to look around in the darkness of the freezing cold water, but he couldn't see a thing, not even… _LUND!_

Even though his lungs were burning, he swam away from the ice and into the depths. His hands reached out, grabbing at empty water for any sign of the older man. But he couldn't see, he felt nothing.

_I don't want to die here, I don't want Lund to die here!_ Tony's lungs were screaming for air, his vision fading in and out as he started to run out of the strength to fight. But then, a sudden burst of power ran through him. _We're NOT dying here!_

A blue glow engulfed Tony's body, as he let his hands fly upward, the ice above him ripping apart and scattering all over. He rose from the water, his powers allowing him to remain floating in the air as he turned his glowing eyes back to the water.

With a motion of his blue colored hands the water from the late rose up, the glow of his powers showing the struggling Lund inside. Tony quickly let the blue glow surround the man, the water splashing back down as he floated the man to shore.

Once Tony had deposited him on land, he descended to the snow covered ground as well. Instantly the blue glow dissipated, his eyes returning to their normal mismatched state as his eyelids slid shut and he collapsed into the snow, unable to stay conscious any longer.

* * *

When awareness finally returned to Tony, he was shivering but also somehow very warm. He opened his eyes, and found a roaring fire a few feet away, and a fuzzy blanket wrapped around his body.

He tried to sit up, only to hiss as a painful soreness ran through his entire body. He quickly flopped back down. _What…_ The memories of the incident at the frozen lake quickly returned to the front of his mind. _My powers… I… I..._

"You okay, kid?"

Tony's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned around to see Lund bundled in the same kind of blankets. Unable to find the words to speak, he gave a quick, nervous nod towards the man.

Lund quickly grinned in response. "I'm glad, Louise would kill me if anything happened to you." He reached out.

"So would I!" A new voice said, which made Tony turn to see a middle aged woman with a gray streak in her hair. She glared at Lund while handing him a steaming mug. "He had to save your life because you were too drunk to be careful!"

This must be his wife! Tony realized, and quickly said,"It wasn't his fault, ma'am. It just cracked out of nowhere. I don't think either of us could have been prepared for it."

She turned toward him with a mug of the same steaming liquid, quickly placing it in his hands as she replied,"You don't have to defend him, dear, this isn't even the dumbest thing he's done." Lund let out an indignant cry next to them. "I'm just glad that you both are safe."

Tony felt a blush creep up his cheeks, he hadn't gotten this much positive attention since the Avengers were still on good terms with one another. He took a sip from the mug, the taste of broth helping warm him up. He hummed happily, resting both of his hands against the warmth.

Wait… My hands! He gasped, bringing one of his hands up and realizing the carefully wrapped bandages were gone. The dark blue skin was on display for anyone to see, along with markings on his face and his discolored eye.

His hand quickly covered that half of his face even though he knew it was pointless. He turned towards the couple with fear in his visible eye. They were both staring back at him, neither seeming to know what to say.

"Y-you saw… Didn't you?" He asked Lund.

"I did…" Lund replied, his voice slow and careful as if he was afraid of how Tony would react.

As soon as those two words left Lund's mouth, the genius let out a panicked noise, curling further in on himself. "No, no, no…" He whispered,"I'm sorry… I-I shouldn't have-"

"Don't you dare apologize for using them, young man!" Lund's wife quickly interrupted,"Without them, you and Lund wouldn't have survived."

Tony frowned as panic started to overtake him again. "I know that, I do! It's just… I didn't want you to see… it's dangerous."

"Your powers?" Lund asked.

The genius let out a shaky sigh. "It's dangerous for you to know. If the people who did this to me ever tracked me down again…" He cringed, blocking out painful memories. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."

For several seconds the only sound was a roaring fire, until Lund let out a large huff of air and replied,"I don't care about any freaky powers you have. Louise has nothing but good things to say about you, and you saved my life. We'll keep your secret, and we'll help you stay safe."

"You don't have to do that…" Tony muttered nervously.

Lund's wife scoffed. "You think you're the first person to come through here trying to escape something? That's how plenty of us here started out."

With a gentle smile, she took Tony's discolored hand in her own, pulling it away from his face. "You don't have to be afraid. People like us stick together."

"Exactly!" Lund replied, smirking into his cup. "And you'd have to be an idiot to think Louise will let you leave anytime soon. You're the most competent employee she's ever had!"

"I'm the _only _employee she's ever had," Tony reminded him.

Lund nodded furiously. "Even more evidence that you aren't escaping from her! It's not every day someone actually impresses her!"

"_You _certainly never have," Lund's wife casually added, making the man let out a sputter of surprise at the sudden attack.

Tony let out a breathy laugh at their antics, and turned his gaze back to his mug. With a deep breath, he reached for the power he knew was there and tried to summon it willingly.

The mug in his hands gained a faint blue glow around it, and floating in the air a few inches before slowly descending back into his hand. He held it close again as he recalled the amount of power he had used to save Lund from the ice, and let a small smile appear on his face.

_I'm getting stronger, I am learning to control it now. Just try and come after me, you bastards. I may not be able to go home, but I can protect the people I care about here. _


End file.
